


Wyverns

by SgtLeppard



Series: Sorcerous Prince, High Deliverer [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, F/M, Invisible Kingdom | Revelation Route, Nightmares, Robin!Leon, Spoilers for Birthright and Conquest, mentioned Twin MUs, who came up with the 'leon is afraid of heights' headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8735809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SgtLeppard/pseuds/SgtLeppard
Summary: After a particularly unnerving nightmare, Robin takes a walk through the camp and finds himself in the stables, bonding with Minerva.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I think Robin/Cherche might be my new Awakening OTP because of this damn AU. It doesn't help that [this bit of support music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S0JgMArAzI) is what inspired it
> 
> Also, Star Trek reference anyone? You get a cookie if you spot it

_"Corrin, please come home with us!"_

_"Don't listen to him, Corrin. Your home is Hoshido!"_

_"You belong in Nohr, little prince. Please, take my hand and we'll all go home."_

_"Come with me, Corrin."_

_He can hear the voices in the distance. Three people come up. "Takumi?" Corrin speaks. "Hinoka? Sakura?"_

_"B-big brother?" Sakura meekly pleads._

_Soon he and his own siblings run in. "He's my brother!" Elise cries._

_Corrin turns towards them. "Camilla. Elise. ____." Of course, his name is lost._

_He can only stand and watch as Corrin contemplates his choices. Xander's hand reaches out to him, begging him to return with them to Nohr. On the other side, Ryouma extends his own hand, pleading with his lost brother to be where he rightfully belongs. He can't stand the trepidation. "Please come home," he mutters to himself. He's not sure what he would do if his other big brother left._

_"Don't worry, ____," Camilla reassures him. "He'll side with us."_

_"I hope so," he whispers. He clutches Brynhildr tightly. He can't bear the thought of losing Corrin. Not like this. He has to come back to Nohr. He has to!_

_"I've decided," Corrin speaks up. The moment of truth. Corrin is going to come back home to Nohr and it will all be settled._

_But he's far from prepared for the real answer. Corrin moves over towards Ryouma and stands by his side. "No." He can't. He can't do this._

_"Corrin!" Xander exclaims. "You don't mean--!"_

_"I'm afraid so. I've made up my mind."_

_No. No!_

_"I stand with Hoshido!"_

\----------

"CORRIN!"

Robin bolted upright in his bed, breathing heavily. He wasn't on the plains of Hoshido. He was in his tent in Ylisse. Judging by the near complete silence he heard, it was probably still dark outside. _Just a nightmare,_ he thought, but it felt somewhat real. Why?

He remembered why. He had been in that situation before. It was one of the few memories he had managed to recover. However, something wasn't right about it. There was only Corrin. Didn't he have a sister? A twin sister, yes. Where was she? Had he lost both of them?

No. Robin finally calmed down a bit when he realised that the nightmare had twisted that memory around. Corrin didn't side with Hoshido, but he didn't side with Nohr either. And for some reason, his twin sister was absent. Kamui, that was her name. But why did he dream about that, especially if it was not the correct chain of events that happened? His mostly lost memories on top of that, he was left with way more questions than answers.

It finally occurred to him that he had shouted upon waking. It was still quiet. Gazing over to his side, Robin could see his girlfriend, Cherche, still sleeping soundly beside him. He could only guess that no one heard him. How, though, was another question. Sighing, he got out of bed and got dressed. Maybe a walk around camp would do him some good before even attempting to go back to sleep. Stepping out of his tent, Robin could definitely tell how quiet it was. Aside from the odd patroller, everyone else had turned in for the night and were likely asleep. Good. He needed to be alone with his thoughts for a little while.

Dreams. It seemed that some of his memories had wanted to return that way as of late, but they also had a nasty habit of twisting them into nightmares. The latest one was testament to that. Would talking with Tharja or Miriel help with that? Probably not. Miriel would likely tell him that he could learn things from his nightmares so there would be little point in trying to curb them. Tharja was just plain creepy and followed him around way too much. He remembered having a friend -- servant? -- who often followed him, but he couldn't remember him -- yes, him, definitely a man -- ever giving off strange vibes. He sincerely hoped that these nightmares weren't the result of one of Tharja's hexes to get him to come to her. _Might be best to keep my distance._

He stopped for a moment to assess just where he had wandered to and found that he was outside the stables where the mounts were kept. Curiosity got the better of him and he went in. Of all the members of the Shepherds that rode mounts, the majority of those mounts were horses. The few odd ones out were a couple of Pegasi and one single wyvern. Cherche's wyvern.

Robin sighed. For as long as he could remember, which wasn't long, he had a fear of heights, so flying on Pegasi and wyverns was pretty much out of the question. If only he could remember why. Despite his acrophobia, he had a small desire to take a ride on Minerva. With Cherche asleep and his fear making him chicken out of flying anywhere, maybe he could settle for a little bonding time.

Minerva sensed his presence and lightly nudged him. "O-oh! Hello there, Minerva," Robin said, reaching up to gently pat her head. Minerva continued to nudge him, almost asking for a little more affection from him. Robin chuckled. "Of course." He reached around and lightly scratched behind her ears, resulting in a somewhat purring sound from the wyvern. "You really are too cute," he giggled. He must've sounded so much like his girlfriend at that moment. Or maybe more like someone else, someone he once knew...

Now that he thought about it, a few of his recovered memories involved a tall, lavender-haired woman with a wyvern of her own. A flash of his nightmare returned to him. That same woman was there by his side. Corrin called her 'Camilla', didn't he? Now it made sense. She must be one of his siblings. Now that he had a name to put to her face, he thought about her wyvern mount. Cherche and Camilla treated their wyverns the same, and thus their mounts acted a little similarly. Robin chuckled at the thought. It was really endearing. "You know," he started, sitting down on a nearby stool, "you remind me of my sister's wyvern a little bit."

Minerva replied with a curious snort.

"Mmhm," Robin nodded. "Ah, what was her name...?" He fell silent for a moment as he tried to remember his sister's mount's name. "Was it... Macy? No, not that. It started with an 'M' though, I know that much... Hmm... Marcie? Not quite, but close." Then it hit him. "Marzia! That was it! It was Marzia. My sister doted on her quite a lot. I think she still does..." If he were at home, he would likely know. Wherever home actually was. His nightmare made it seem like he was from Nohr. Where even was Nohr? He didn't remember seeing it on any maps. Strange. Maybe Nohr was a city somewhere. No, if it was anything like Hoshido, it was probably its own country. It must be very close to Hoshido, he surmised. How else were their armies able to meet up like that?

Robin was startled out of his thoughts by a light huff from Minerva. "Hmm? Oh, I apologise. I must've gotten wrapped up in my thoughts again." He watched as she flexed her wings out a bit. Oh man, how he wanted to go flying, but his fear -- however it had developed -- wouldn't let him. Minerva must've sensed this, as she lightly nudged his knee. "Oh no, I couldn't," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not the biggest fan of flying, unfortunately. It's sad though. I would very much like to fly, but I can't."

The wyvern gave him a questioning look.

"W-well, by 'not the biggest fan of flying', I mean I'm--"

"Too scared to fly?"

Robin nearly jumped from his seat. "What the--!"

A giggle drew his attention. Turning towards the source of the sound, he saw Cherche standing a few feet away. "Cherche! Why are you awake?"

"To be honest, I thought heard a scream," she replied, "but I couldn't completely wake up in time to see if anyone had and fell right back asleep. I did wake up a moment later and found you weren't there, so I went looking for you. Though I didn't expect to find you here of all places," she giggled. "I see you were having a little chat with Minervykins?"

So she did hear him. Robin nervously chuckled. "Guilty as charged."

"Why didn't you tell me you were afraid of heights?" Cherche asked.

He shrugged. "I largely forgot about it. Whenever it does come to mind, I find myself scared to admit it."

Cherche nodded. "You were afraid to crush my dreams of taking you out on a nice flight in the countryside."

"Yeah," he responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well," she began, pulling up another stool to sit by him, "what brought on this fear? Or does it seem like a more natural fear to you?"

Robin wracked his brain for anything that could potentially indicate why he was so scared of heights. It didn't feel like a natural type of fear to him. Something had to have happened for him to be like this. Could it have been how he arrived in Ylisse? While he was certain a fall was involved there, he doubted it was the reason for his fear. There had to be something else. Likely one of his long forgotten memories. Lissa said that he shouldn't force his memories to return, but maybe if he just tried, something might come up. Hell, why didn't he try that with figuring out his real name? Maybe it was because he had grown quite accustomed to his new name. It felt like his real name, even though he knew it wasn't. Maybe after he regained his real name, he could keep 'Robin' as a nickname. It seemed strange, taking on a nickname that made absolutely no reference to your real name, but he supposed that was the point of some nicknames, wasn't it? Hell, the healer who checked him out went by Bones, even though his real name was McCoy.

Ah, but that's not the point right now. He'll worry about his name later. Right now, he needed to figure out why he was afraid of heights. The longer he thought about it, the more he could feel a headache coming on. Lissa would certainly scold him for that. Maybe he should narrow down the possible factors. He seemed relatively fine on top of towers for the most part, and gazing out from windows several storeys high didn't bother him. So what was it? A bridge? No, that couldn't be right. Maybe it was something that wasn't stable, or at least something he didn't deem stable enough to hold him. Taking a look at Minerva, he imagined himself attempting to fly on her, but the only thing he could think of was falling off the moment he stopped paying attention.

That was when it came to him. Now he remembered. A vague memory, possibly fond, but largely scary. Camilla had offered to take him on a ride on Marzia. They were younger then, and she had only just received Marzia as a gift from their father. Who was their father? Nah, not important. Being ecstatic at seeing a wyvern up close, he eagerly agreed. He remembered enjoying himself on the flight, but the moment he had foolishly let go of his sister's side, he tumbled backwards and fell off. Thankfully, Camilla was quick to rescue him, but once he was back on, he demanded to be put down on the ground. The last thing he remembered was throwing up in a bush and vowing to never ride a flying mount again.

"I think I remember why," Robin spoke after some time. "My sister had a wyvern and I flew on it with her once, but I fell off. I swore off flying since then."

Cherche gave him a look of understanding. "It happens. When flying in battle, you have to remain focused on your enemies, but never lose your grip on the reigns. If you need both hands free, you hold tight with your legs. The same applies when riding for leisure. It's important to enjoy yourself, but don't get too caught up in your enjoyment that you accidentally lose focus and find yourself free falling from hundreds of feet in the air."

It made sense. Robin had been enjoying himself so much that he forgot that the only thing holding him steady on Marzia was holding onto Camilla. Perhaps he could look past that. Of course, there would be the issue of looking down, which will definitely remind him of the fall. Sad, as most good views involve looking at the ground. How would he be able to counter that? Imagining it as one big image on canvas might help, but he won't be too sure until he actually gets in the air. Whenever that might be.

Minerva let out a snort, then nuzzled his arm. "Hmm," Cherche hummed. "It seems she wants to apologise for your traumatic experience."

Robin patted the wyvern's head gently. "Don't worry, Minerva. It's not your fault."

"So Robin," Cherche started, "was there a scream earlier?"

He sighed and nodded. "Just a nightmare is all."

"A nightmare? What of?"

"Remember when I told you about Corrin and Kamui?"

"Your twin siblings?" she asked. "The one thing that stands out is when you told me about a decision that they had to make that would determine the outcome of a war."

"Yes. My nightmare was of that, but it was different."

Cherche cocked her head slightly. "How was it different?"

Robin thought for a moment as he recalled his nightmare. "We were on the plains of Hoshido, but only Corrin was there. For some reason, Kamui was absent entirely, and instead of refusing to side with either of us, he alone sided with Hoshido. That's when I woke up." He shook his head. "I just don't understand why I would dream about something that didn't happen."

"Well, if you ask me," she responded, "I think your dream was showing you something that could've happened, what you were afraid would happen. A what-if situation. In this case, what if Corrin, and possibly Kamui, despite her absence, had followed through on a fear of betrayal and sided against you 100%?"

He wasn't sure he wanted to know what could've resulted from that. Who knows, maybe his dreams would continue to torment him and remind him of those kinds of events. It wasn't the first time it happened. He did once dream about something mad and evil possessing his best friend, forcing Kamui -- Corrin was absent that time, and she alone chose Nohr -- to kill him in order to free him from whatever entity it was that took hold of him. What did this all mean? Was this something he was afraid could've happened had something been different? It was very likely, especially with that choice, that silver-haired archer -- Takumi -- wouldn't have been his friend, but his mortal enemy. In that moment, he was secretly glad that the both of them were there and had refused to choose a side. From what he could remember, he couldn't ask for a better friend than Takumi, and whenever he thought about their decision, he didn't really think of being betrayed. Maybe it did work out for the best in reality, and his nightmares were showing him the various events that could've happened. Events that left a bad taste in his mouth.

Having talked about his dream made him feel a little better. Definitely no need to see Miriel or, Gods forbid, Tharja about it. Gods, how did he get such a wonderful woman like Cherche?

"You feel better now, Robin?" she asked, gently rubbing his back.

He nodded, smiling. "I'm alright now."

She returned the smile and stood up to leave. "Come on, love. Let's go back to bed."

A thought came to him. Since it was on his mind... "Actually," he spoke, "I was wondering..."

Cherche turned around to face him. "What is it?"

A part of him almost wanted to back out before saying anything, but he mentally shook the doubt away. He wanted to do this. "Since I was thinking about it, I was wondering if we could ride together for a little while before heading back to bed."

"Oh?" she beamed. "Even with your phobia?"

Robin nodded. "With a name like mine, you'd think I'd have been flying all my life. Sure, it's not my real name, but... I think it's time that this robin earned his wings."

Her grin widened. "Then I would be honoured to assist, my love." She turned her gaze to her wyvern. "What do you think, Minerva? Up for a late-night stroll?"

Minerva roared in response. While he had only been with Cherche for a few short months, Robin had learned to decipher what Minerva's roars mean. This particular roar meant that she was more than happy to take the pair on a leisurely flight.

"It's decided," Cherche giggled. While she went to grab her saddle, Robin let his mind wander for a little bit. Was he ready to attempt to get back on a wyvern? Likely not, but this was the first time that he could remember wanting to try. If he continued to put it off, he would likely never fly again. If there was ever a time to try and conquer his fear, it was best to do that when he felt the confidence to. Luckily enough, he was feeling brave.

A soft whistle brought him back to reality. Cherche had already led Minerva outside and saddled up, and was waiting on her boyfriend to join her. Now or never. Smiling, Robin carefully climbed up behind her. As nervous as he was, he was still excited. He just needed to remember to not let go and not look down.

And of course, try not to think about how high up in the air he would be and that one wrong move could send him hurdling down towards the earth at high speeds. Oh Gods, why is he doing this?

Before his mouth could go on autopilot and make him chicken out, Minerva flexed her wings and took to the skies.

"Whoa!" Robin quickly wrapped his arms around Cherche's waist as they quickly ascended to a higher altitude. He felt like he was about to slide backwards and fall. _Just hold on, Robin. Everything's fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. We're fine. We're just flying in the air. Cherche and Minerva aren't going to let me fall. You have nothing to worry about. Why the FUCK did I look down!?_

"Robin?"

"H-huh?"

"You're holding on a little too tightly."

"O-oh." He loosened his grip a little. "Better?"

Cherche smiled and hummed, drawing her attention back ahead of her. Robin sighed and tried to breathe normally. He needed to get his mind off of the inevitable plunge towards the ground.

"I've got a great idea for a sight you should see," Cherche said. "Hang on!"

Oh no. Cherche directed Minerva off towards their right, diving downwards. "W-WHOA! SLOW DOWN!" Robin quickly screwed his eyes shut. He could feel the wind whipping past him. Good thing he didn't put on his headband. He was certain he would've lost it.

By now, Robin was shaking in fear. Any moment now, he would feel his body break on the ground below them. But that didn't come. He could feel himself leveling out, but refused to look to find out what happened.

Cherche giggled. "I'm sure that drop scared you half to death, love, but you can look now."

Against his better judgment, he slowly peeked out, only to open his eyes wide at the sight he was treated to. They were flying some mere feet above a large body of water -- the sea? -- and keeping a steady pace. Nervously, he chanced a gaze below him, then gasped. He knew the water was rippling beneath him, but with how fast they were flying, the surface seemed as smooth as glass. He could even see his reflection perfectly clear. Admittedly, he was tempted to reach down and touch the water, but two things prevented that: First, the trepidation from his fear of heights kept him from being curious, and second, they were a little too high up to reach the water anyway.

As breathtaking as the sight was, Robin quickly leaned back in, fearing as if just simply looking a different direction will make him fall off of Minerva's back. At least if he fell now, it would be in water and thankfully, he can swim.

"Are you alright, Robin?" Cherche called.

Robin gulped. "I'm fine!" Part of him wanted to tell her to land, but another part of him, small as it was, wanted to keep going. He was doing this to try and beat his fear, after all. "U-um, there isn't anything... uh, dangerous in the water, is there?"

Cherche giggled, "No, my love. It's perfectly safe. Unless you don't like fish."

For what he knew, he wasn't exactly averse to fish, so if he fell in, it wouldn't be too bad. But what if a crocodile or alligator or some other creature had decided to wade in? _No, no. Stop thinking about that. Just enjoy the flight. Breathe. You're alright. This really isn't that bad._ Of course, mentally encouraging himself will only get him so far. He just hoped he wouldn't need anything else to keep him from falling off.

"Hang on!" Before Robin could inquire why, Minerva suddenly shot straight up. _So much for not so bad!_ He tightened his grip around his girlfriend's waist in a panic. _Why why why why why why why why why why why--!_ Dammit! He looked down again. Now he felt like he was going to throw up. _Oh Gods, please no._ He needed to keep his dinner down. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin this chance to beat his fear by upchucking all over the place.

Once again, they leveled out, but Robin refused to open his eyes. While he was certain the view was beautiful, he was also certain that the fall would be equally deadly. He'd much rather stay in one piece, thank you very much.

"Robin?" Cherche called.

All he did was gently squeeze to let her know that he acknowledged her. He didn't want to look again, and he just knew his voice would betray him if he spoke. She seemed to take that as he was alright and they continued flying. Oh Gods, he had never felt so scared in his life. How high up were they now? On second thought, maybe it was best that he didn't ask.

Cherche giggled. "You don't have to look, but if you put your arms out, you can feel the wind."

"Okay, Cherche, I love you and all, but are you insane?"

"Maybe a bit." Yep, she and Camilla would get along nicely. At least, he thought. "But trust me, I know what I'm doing. Just hold tight with your legs!"

 _I am not doing that. I am not doing that. I am not going to-- oh hell, damn my curiosity!_ He tightened his grip on Minerva's back with his legs, but hesitated to release his hold on Cherche. So far, that was all that was keeping him from falling off. It was now or never. How was he going to beat his fear if he couldn't trust his girlfriend while in the air? Well, he trusted her for sure. It was just him being a chicken. _Come on, Robin. You can do this. Just trust her. You'll be fine._ Slowly, he let go of her waist. The force of the wind nearly made him slide off, but he tightened his leg hold again and was able to keep still. Alright, so far, so good. All that was left was to let his arms hang out in the wind. Taking a deep breath, he slowly lifted his arms, letting the wind rip past them. It was a very interesting feeling. It was a brisk wind, and he was slowly starting to lose the feeling in his face, but he couldn't help but feel... excited. Like before when flying with Camilla. Daring a glance, he peeked out, seeing nothing but the starry black ink of the sky. He'd been stargazing before on the ground, watching from a hillside, but this... The moon was so full and bright, the stars were twinkling. This blew every other stargazing experience out of the water.

Robin couldn't help but smile. This was amazing. All fearful thoughts of falling now dissipated. He couldn't imagine a sight more beautiful. Well, aside from Cherche. Nothing would top her beauty in his eyes. But this... This definitely took a damn close second.

Cherche glanced behind her. "Having fun, Robin?"

"I didn't think I would have this much fun in the air," he answered, still grinning like an idiot. "This is better than... Gods, I'm lost for words..." He returned his arms back to her waist, but it was out of love this time instead of fear. "Thank you, Cherche."

As much as they both wanted to remain in the air on their exhilarating flight, they had to return to camp. While it was now only a little past two in the morning, they still had to get up early to go about their daily duties. Thankfully they weren't marching in the morning. That would be the next day. Regardless, if they were going to get any semblance of sleep, they needed to head back soon. With a light click of the reigns, Minerva took a nosedive back down to the camp. As scary as it was, Robin forced himself to think of the drop as a sort of amusement ride. Surely some realm contained things like that. He put his absolute faith and trust into the wyvern to take them back to the ground safely. She knew what she was doing. She wouldn't let her riders fall.

Within a few minutes, the camp was in sight. There were still a few nighttime patrollers about, but that was expected. Minerva landed right next to the stables with a thud that was sure to wake up at least two people. Robin carefully slid off her back, landing on slightly wobbly legs, but solid earth. He couldn't believe it. He finally did it. He finally got in the air and saw breathtaking views. And the best part of it all, he didn't fall off nor did he throw up! Oh, he was still scared the majority of the time, but the excitement was greater. At least the next time Cherche offered to take him into the air, he wouldn't chicken out. In fact, he found himself wishing they could fly again tomorrow after they've completed their duties. Who knows, if a clear night sky was that beautiful in the air, he could only imagine how a sunset looked from that altitude.

"I can't thank you enough, love," he told Cherche as she returned from taking Minerva back inside the stables.

"It's always a pleasure, Robin," she smiled sweetly. "Always."

Hand in hand, they made their way back to their tent. The night began badly with a nightmare, but after some bonding with Minerva and a flight in the air on a strange confidence boost, this definitely went down as the best night that Robin could remember. His fear wasn't beaten entirely, but he would take as many flights in the air like that as it took to do so.

 _Yes,_ he thought as he laid down in his bed, Cherche already having fallen back asleep. _My fear will not conquer me. I will conquer my fear. I will conquer the air! As long as I have them..._

He smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

_I have nothing to fear._


End file.
